New England towns are incorporated municipalities New York towns are not. The settlement patterns of these towns are more like civil townships than "towns" as that term is generally understood in most of the United States. These states use the term town, instead of township. In New England and New York, counties are further subdivided into towns and cities, the principal forms of local government. New Jersey township is a form of municipal government equal in status to a village, town, borough, or city. Townships were established based on convenient geographical boundaries and vary in size from six to fifty-two square miles(10–135 km²). See also: Political subdivisions of Wisconsin Pennsylvania and New JerseyĪ Pennsylvania township is a unit of local government, responsible for services such as police departments, local road and street maintenance. Ten other states also allow townships and municipalities to overlap. Where the paper township does not extend to the city limits, property owners pay taxes for both the township and municipality. In Ohio, a city or village is overlaid onto a township unless it withdraws by establishing a paper township. Minnesota townships can be either Non-Urban or Urban (giving the township government greater power), but this is not reflected in the township's name.
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In both documents and conversation, "town" and "township" are used interchangeably. In Minnesota, state statute refers to such entities as towns yet requires them to have a name in the form " Name Township". In Wisconsin, such regions are known as " towns" rather than townships, but they are essentially the same. In Michigan, general law townships can incorporate as charter townships, a status intended to protect against annexation from nearby municipalities and which grants the township some home rule powers similar to cities. Most townships in Illinois also provide services such as snow removal, senior transportation and emergency services to households residing in unincorporated parts of the county.Ĭivil townships in these states are generally not considered to be incorporated, and nearby cities may annex land in adjoining townships with relative ease. In contrast, civil townships in Indiana are operated in a relatively consistent manner state-wide and tend to be well organized, with each served by a township trustee and a three-member board. For example, Illinois townships in the northern part of the state are active in providing public services - such as road maintenance, after-school care, and senior services - whereas townships in southern Illinois frequently abandon these services in favor of the county. The degree to which these townships are functioning governmental entities varies from state to state and in some cases even within a state. In the Upper Midwestern states near the Great Lakes, civil townships (known in Michigan as general law townships ) are often, but not always, overlaid on the survey townships. In the state of Kansas some civil townships provide services such as Road Maintenance and Fire Protection Services not provided by the county. Madison Township Hall in Madison Township, Richland County, Ohioĭepending on the state, the township government has varying degrees of authority. In some cases townships run local libraries, senior citizen services, youth services, disabled citizen services, emergency assistance, and even cemetery services. In the 20th century many townships also added a township administrator or supervisor to the officers as an executive for the board. Township officers frequently include justice of the peace, road commissioner, assessor, constable, and surveyor. Township functions are generally attended to by a governing board (the name varies from state to state) and a clerk or trustee. Census Bureau classifies civil townships as minor civil divisions. Civil townships are distinct from survey townships, but in states that have both, the boundaries often coincide, and may completely geographically subdivide a county. Specific responsibilities and the degree of autonomy vary based on each state. The term town is used in New England, New York and Wisconsin to refer to the equivalent of the civil township in these states. A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States, subordinate to a county.